Airbnb to move into car sharing?

Is Airbnb about to let you rent a stranger’s car as well a home? Co-founder Brian Chesky isn’t saying yes — but he isn’t saying no, either.

Airbnb co-founder Brian Chesky.

The short-term rental site has grown to a $1.3 billion valuation this year, as people around the world have opened their homes, castles and television studios to strangers looking for a place to stay. The company’s rapid growth and $120 million in funding have led some to speculate whether Airbnb might let users rent out another asset: their cars.

Asked about it at the GigaOm RoadMap conference, Chesky smiled and stared at the floor.

“We have no commitments to do car sharing,” he said, a non-denial denial if there ever were one.

He went on:

“They’re interested in sharing a lot of things, I can say that for sure. Basically any asset they have.”

Chesky also noted that vehicles are typically the second-most expensive asset a consumer owns, after their homes, and that some people spend more each year on their cars than they do on their residences.

In other words: This one’s a no-brainer.

Ever since Airbnb pioneered what some call “collaborative consumption” — peer-to-peer marketplaces that let users share assets and skills — a host of other companies have tried to recreate it in other industries. For work spaces there’s Kodesk; for tutors there’s TutorSpree; for errands there’s TaskRabbit.

But the biggest remaining peer marketplace may be vehicles. Pioneering ride-share service Zipcar went public earlier this year; Getaround and RelayRides have raised millions this year going trying to replicate Airbnb for cars sitting idle in the driveway. In October, TechCrunch reported that the company had surveyed its members about whether they’d like to share cars; in response, Airbnb suggested it was exploring whether to partner with an existing car-sharing service.

After Thursday’s appearance, it would appear that now it’s only a question of when.